Lunar Phases
by Crescent Pulsar
Summary: When Usagi becomes Neo Queen Serenity and establishes Crystal Tokyo, a girl with red hair somehow gets trapped within the crystal that grew throughout the city. Much to the new queen's surprise and confusion, she is unable to free the girl from her captivity. Time passes...
1. Preface & Prologue

**Preface**

The idea behind this one was inspired by something that probably wasn't mentioned in the anime, and the manga hadn't gone into any depth about it. As for what it is, I'll only say that it involves Serenity's origins.

Beyond that, I also wanted to write a story without a real antagonist. This story's going to be about loss and being lost, finding oneself and one's place within the grand scheme of things, and discovering something that's been present all along. Not that I have any hope in my ability to write any of it well.

This is going to be a short story. Really, I probably should have just held off on doing anything with it until it was completed, but — as is often the case — I wasn't thinking. Oh, well.

**Prologue**

The morning following the establishment of Crystal Tokyo found Tendo Soun shuffling nervously on his porch. It wasn't every day that a queen — even one who'd only been one for a day — came to visit one's house personally, after all. That, and the reason for her visit was due to a matter of great importance, concerning the crystal that she had spread throughout Tokyo on the day of her coronation.

There was also the fact that the premises had been secured by the queen's security detail, to ensure that she wouldn't be disturbed during her visit. It wasn't like he'd ever done anything wrong, as far as he was aware of or willing to admit, but he couldn't get past the feeling of entrapment.

His body stiffened when he felt his hackles rise, which happened at the same time as he had noticed the appearance of a faint, glowing sphere that hummed with energy between him and the closed gate of the perimeter wall. By the time that the sphere of energy had dissipated, the forms of five figures had fully resolved themselves within it.

One would have had to live under a rock to not recognize Neo Queen Serenity and her four guardian senshi, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury. Well, not so much the queen, since her current attire was a relatively new look for Sailor Moon, but anyone who'd had access to at least one source of news during the past few years would have known about their efforts toward organized crime around the world, to the point where anything under the definition of "major" virtually ceased to exist at the present time.

In particular, it would be shameful for any Japanese citizen to not know about them, considering that their activities had begun in their country. It had started with Sailor Venus (then called Sailor V), who had mainly been known for her exploits in dealing with crime in the Tokyo area. Then, by the time the senshi had grown in number and had become a team, they had become something of an urban myth, since most of those involved in various mysterious incidents had little — if any — knowledge or recollection of anything that had happened. They hadn't gotten any serious consideration until after the inexplicable events surrounding the comet (named Snow Princess Kaguya) that had threatened to impact the Earth, and its mysterious destruction. But no government had officially recognized their existence until their crusade against organized crime, which had begun in Japan in the mid-nineties.

As the queen and her entourage approached him, he was again struck with amazement at how young they were, considering how much they had accomplished and achieved during the decade that they had been active. The five before him were in their early twenties, and their official biography stated that they had first become senshi in their early teens. Well, apparently they had the experiences of their past lives to call upon, as senshi or otherwise, but still.

He bowed deeply, rigidly, as soon as they stopped in front of him, and his nervousness made it hard for him to recall the manufactured greeting that he had agonized over earlier. "I-it's an honor to have you g-grace us with your presence, Jo'ō-sama. Should you, um, r-require anything, you need but ask."

Usagi was about to respond in a flippant manner, but Rei saw the signs and elbowed her in the side before she could say anything. She spared the owner of the elbow a look of annoyance before resigning herself to acting like everyone expected of a queen, and a normal young woman with an easygoing personality and somewhat immature behavior wasn't it. That she didn't have to project a facade in private was a small consolation, but she reminded herself that it was a sacrifice for the greater good.

So she drew herself up and got ready for the role that she was required to play. "I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but I believe that there was an incident here that — you'll agree — should be taken care of first before addressing my own needs. May I ask you to lead the way for me?"

Her guardian senshi gave her looks of appraisal, impressed, and felt thankful that all of their efforts to get such a result hadn't been wasted. Ami and Rei, in particular, were the most affected by it, considering how they — among the current group — were the most diligent when it came to deportment, and in knowing what to do and how to behave in a given situation.

Soun pulled out of his bow eagerly, and the look in his eyes said that he was overjoyed over the fact that his needs were going to be attended to first. "O-of course, Jo'ō-sama! Right this way!"

As he led them through the house, he barely managed to keep a bounce out of his step. In the meantime, Usagi reflected on how things had changed. She had known for a while that she would become a queen, but she'd never known how. She had assumed that she would need to pursue the position herself, instead of being appealed to by a revolution; a revolution that had likely been inspired by their biography.

When their crime-busting campaign had cemented into the people's minds the fact that the sailor senshi were real, the demand for information — regarding their identities and origin — had grown exponentially. The biography that they had put together in response had been a means of curtailing investigations into who they were when they were civilians, in the hope that knowing everything else about them would be enough for people to respect their need for secrecy. The palace on the moon, as well as those orbiting other planets, had been more than enough evidence to lend their biography credence.

It hadn't stopped the investigations completely, but it had managed to enlist the help of the Japanese government in preventing information regarding their identities from being used by any kind of news publication or broadcast. The Internet, on the other hand, had been taken care of easily enough with the advanced technology that was at their disposal.

From there, their popularity, in addition to the poor economic climate at the time, had pushed them into the political spotlight, with ideas on how their magic and/or advanced technology could improve the people's everyday lives. Things just sort of took off from there, and — when everything had been said and done — the constitutional monarchy of the country remained intact (if altered) while the family that had descended from the sun had been replaced by the one hailing from the moon.

Once Soun had taken them to another side of the house, he proceeded to lead them outside, to a breezeway that led to a dojo. Once there, he slid open the door and stood by to allow them entrance.

Inside, the queen and her guardian senshi found the rest of the Tendo family, in addition to the Saotome family. They were all gathered at the front of the dojo, by the wall that bore the kamidana above their heads. Whatever they had been doing had ceased when the door had been opened, unless they had been staring at the door prior to their arrival.

But what really got their attention was the white, translucent crystal situated in the middle of the dojo, that was nearly as tall as the ceiling. It was shaped much like an obelisk, except that it was at least three times as wide at the base than it was near the top. Suspended within the crystal was a young girl who wore a Mandarin-styled red jacket and matching black pants, and her vibrant red hair was tied back into a pigtail. While her feet were together, with her toes pointing toward the floor, her arms were held away from her body at a forty-five degree angle. They couldn't tell what color her eyes were, because they were closed.

Usagi had to see it to believe it. Even though she had assured everyone that the crystal wouldn't harm anyone or anything, someone had been trapped inside of it. There had been many accounts of people being able to walk out of the crystal without a problem, and as proof of that it had been a major topic featured in the news. So why had that not been the case for this girl?

Before she could reach the crystal, she was approached by a woman who wore a kimono, whom she identified as being Saotome Nodoka. She bore some resemblance to the girl that was trapped within the crystal, so she assumed that she was related to her. However, once she thought back on the information that Ami had provided her just prior to their arrival, regarding the residents of their current location, she idly wondered where her son could be.

"Jo'ō-sama," Nodoka greeted, who bowed deeply in one fluid motion, "I don't want to seem too forward, but I hope you can save our son. He's our only child..."

Usagi had to pause and blink her eyes a few times at that. Then she joined her guardian senshi as she peered at the figure within the crystal a bit more closely. Nope; despite the baggy clothes, she was definitely a girl. "Son?"

Nodoka appeared to be rather ashamed after she rose out of her bow and admitted, "My son has a curse, Jo'ō-sama. When he comes into contact with cold water, he is transformed into a girl. Hot water reverses the effect."

Usagi returned her attention to whom she now understood was Saotome Ranma, and looked upon him with new eyes. "I see..."

Without further interruption, she stepped up to the crystal and placed her hand upon its surface. She willed it to recede, and it took her a moment to realize that nothing was going to happen. Confused, she tried again... and got the same result. As she began to wonder what was going on, she tried to walk through the crystal, but found her way blocked by that selfsame crystal.

Nodoka became worried when she saw her queen's look of confusion turn into a frown. "What is it, Jo'ō-sama?"

Rather than answer, Usagi reapplied her hand to the crystal and closed her eyes. She focused her senses on the subject inside of it, hoping that the reason for her inability to control the crystal would be answered by doing so. What she felt was familiar, yet it had taken her some time to put her finger on the name of just what exactly it felt like.

But why a maternal embrace?

It didn't answer what she wanted to know, and raised more questions. She opened her eyes and studied the girl within more closely, and for the first time realized that the position of her body couldn't have been accidental. She highly doubted that she had been encased in the crystal while in the middle of something. It almost looked like...

"Is it just me," she spoke to her guardian senshi, without looking away or changing position, "or does it look like she... _he_ wanted this?"

Nodoka gasped in surprise. "What?"

"Nonsense!" Genma exclaimed, forgetting for a second whose presence he was in, and why that had kept him quiet and reserved before. It hadn't been hard for him to remember when he received a glare from Rei. And then Soun had distracted him by confronting him and demanding to know whether the queen was right or not.

Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi kept their silence, though they did look at Ranma and wondered if the queen might be right. Akane, in particular, couldn't think of what Ranma could have been doing, to be in such a pose. It could have been the very beginning of a backflip, perhaps, but...

"I don't know about that," Makoto spoke up, as she crossed her arms beneath her bosom. "It kinda looks like a leap of faith, to me."

Usagi turned to address her. "A leap of faith?"

"Yeah," Makoto replied, with a nod of her head. "You know, like you need to do something, but you don't know what the outcome will be. So you give yourself over to chance and hope for the best."

"There is something else, too," Ami interjected herself into the discussion. She had been analyzing Ranma with a special pair of large-lensed glasses ever since the mention of a curse. "It's the direction she's facing," she continued, unmindful of what pronoun she used. "She's within a degree of the palace, and three-hundred-and-fifty-nine-to-one odds would make that a very unlikely accident."

Usagi considered that information, and tried to put a mental picture together. She imagined Ranma sensing what she had been doing when she had begun to spread the crystal throughout the city, which she had done from the palace. Once the crystal reached him, he gave himself to it.

"But _why_?" She asked aloud, before she turned her attention to Ranma's mother. "Why would your son need the protection of the Ginzuishou?"

Nodoka looked perplexed. "I... I don't know..."

"Perhaps I could answer that, Jo'ō-sama," Nabiki spoke up.

Akane looked askance at her sister and whispered, "Nabiki?"

"What can you tell me?" Usagi inquired.

"Everything," Nabiki answered with a winning smile. "Which is a lot, and will take a while to tell, so — at your discretion — I recommend we find a place to sit down before we proceed any further."

Noticing the worried looks that were being directed at Nabiki by her father, younger sister and Ranma's father, Usagi nodded her head at the suggestion. "Very well. Whatever you have to share may prove invaluable."

While the accommodations were being made, she returned her attention to Ranma. Soon she may very well learn why he had sought the protection of the Ginzuishou, but she doubted that she would learn anything that would explain why he had enough influence over it to prevent her from releasing or reaching him. While the Ginzuishou didn't exactly restrict its access, not just anyone could tap into its full potential.

She caressed the surface of the crystal and wondered, "Who are you?"

* * *

Jo'ō: Queen.

Kamidana: Literally "god shelf"; it's a shelf-like altar usually set high on a wall and decorated with various objects relevant to the Shinto faith.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"No..." Ranma murmured, as the maternal presence left her. "Don't go..."

Confusion began to set in. Weightlessness had been replaced by an uncomfortable pressure against the front of her body, once the embrace of that maternal presence had disappeared. And then the silent void began to be filled with... noise. Lots of noise. Not just noise, but... voices? There were so many of them that their words became indistinct.

She opened her eyes, but had to squint as they adjusted to the light. However, it was enough for her to see that she was lying upon the floorboards of the dojo. Or, rather, what was left of them: because she saw the start of some kind of white stone not that far away, where the floorboards ended.

It wasn't long before most of her mental faculties began to function at optimal levels, and with it the need to pick herself up from the floor began to grow, so she could find out where she was and what was going on. However, while in the process of bracing herself, so she could push herself away from the floor, she became distracted by a sudden and distinct lack of noise.

When she looked up, what she saw made her pause. Before her stood more than a hundred people, none appearing to be any older than someone in their twenties, and at least some of their attire was unfamiliar if not unexpected. Many of them were pointing various kinds of devices in her direction, that were flat and — most commonly — rectangular in shape, as they observed her with varying degrees of shock. She seemed to be in the middle of some kind of Grecian shrine or temple, by the look of the architectural design, and beyond her spectators was an arched doorway whose doors were currently open to the outside. For some reason unknown to her, she appeared to be in a cordoned-off area, as she was the only one on her side of a fancy-looking guard rail made of the same white stone as the floor.

Not knowing what else to do, she pushed herself into a sitting position and raised a hand in an awkward greeting. "Um... hi?"

"The _Maiden_ spoke!" Some woman squealed, breaking the collective silence.

The woman's excitement proved to be very infectious, as everyone with her seemed to erupt with activity. They were beginning to make noise again for all the good it did to speak at once, except this time some of them were beginning to climb over the guard rail that separated her from them. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she got to her feet and looked around for an escape route — just in case.

And then she heard a new voice over the din. "What in the world is goi—"

She turned around and saw a familiar-looking woman standing in a small doorway, who was staring at her in wide-eyed surprise, with a hand over her mouth. She reminded her of Nabiki, had she been a few years older, but there was also something... like herself about her appearance, too. Her eyes were hazel, and she had her long, brunette hair up in a high ponytail. She wore a voluminous white robe that gleamed in the light, which made her wonder whether she were some kind of priestess or if she had just gotten out of bed.

Whoever the woman was, she recovered quickly enough and began to beckon her through the doorway that she occupied. "This way!"

Ranma looked back at the crowd, which appeared to be growing, and then she returned her attention to the woman. She figured that it would be easier to deal with a single person if they turned out to be a problem, so she decided to heed the woman by running past her, into an enclosed breezeway.

The woman stepped out of the doorway and pressed a panel on the wall, which made a metal door slide into place with nary a sound. Then she turned around, gathered her robes, and walked past her.

"Follow me," she directed, without looking back. "We must make haste."

Not knowing what else to do, Ranma followed her down the lengthy breezeway at a hurried pace. While it was lit by what appeared to be a single, glowing ceiling panel, several windows offered some light, too. When she paused to look out of one, she noticed that a lot of people had gathered outside, and that some of them were now pointing directly at her and getting the others' attention.

Since she was worried about the kind of situation that she had somehow found herself in, in addition to the unfamiliar sights, she quickly caught up to the woman and asked, "What's going on?"

"Not now," the woman replied as she reached a door, before she looked over her shoulder and gave her an apologetic look. "You'll be told everything once you're safe and prepared to hear it."

After the woman opened the door and entered what appeared to be the inside of a house, Ranma was only a step or two behind her, thinking that the response that she had gotten had sounded a bit ominous. It also didn't help her sense of foreboding, when she took a closer look at her surroundings: because each room she passed through looked rather spartan and unfurnished, with the odd futuristic-looking device making an appearance every now and again.

Her fears were realized when a weird-looking chair seemed to phase up through the floor upon entering the latest room, which the woman gestured toward before approaching one of the room's walls. Rather than take a seat, she watched with wide eyes as a small portion of said wall changed color and texture, yet remained flat as all manner of features began to take form. She figured that at least some of them were buttons because the woman had pressed one, but the rest she wasn't sure how to identify.

To her shock, the ghostly image of a young man suddenly appeared between the woman and the wall. He was life-sized, but only shown from the waist up. And if his visage didn't convey that he was all business, then his professional-looking attire certainly did (even though she was unfamiliar with the style).

"This is the Crystal Palace," the man calmly stated. "We have received your passcode and are reviewing it now for authentication."

Ranma stumbled over to the chair and sat down, her head reeling with the implications of what she'd just witnessed. While she'd never watched television all that much, she'd been exposed to enough science-fiction movies to know that she was — in all likelihood — seeing a hologram... and holograms tended to exist in futuristic settings.

"Your identity has been confirmed, Saotome Miyuki," the man stated a few seconds later, before he spared a moment to glance at something only he could see. "I have just been informed that your access to this channel comes with special orders. Shall I proceed with them?"

Miyuki nodded her head affirmatively. "Please do."

That seemed to end the conversation, because the man had simply said, "understood," before his image vanished. Ranma watched as Miyuki continued to stand there, with her back to her, wondering — and fearing — if they were related. If they were, then she might not be from her own generation or above, considering the type of technology that she'd seen so far. And if she wasn't, then the amount of time that she'd spent in that seemingly-timeless state of serenity would have to be measured by at least a single generation, rather than the few years that she was now finding hard to hope for.

Finally, the woman named Miyuki released a sigh, and the tension that had held her shoulders stiff and aloft began to fade. She turned to regard her, and in place of the austere expression was a look of sympathy. Rather than feel offended by that, or appreciative, it made a lump settle in her stomach: because it likely meant that her situation was worse than her own optimistic estimates, even though it was based more on personal experience with her own "luck" than actual evidence.

Miyuki bit her bottom lip for a moment, feeling indecisive, before she found herself blurting out, "How are you feeling?"

Ranma wasn't about to admit that fear was beginning to gnaw at her, so she hesitantly responded with a question, afraid of the answer. "How... should I be feeling?"

She got a wince in reply, and a somewhat pained expression persisted afterward. She found that less than encouraging, to say the least; even more so when she failed to answer her question verbally. That's not to say that she didn't look as if she were trying, but such a simple question apparently had a difficult answer, and she didn't find that to be a good sign.

However, even though she feared what she might learn about her new circumstances, she knew that she wouldn't be able to avoid them forever: after all, the greater the changes, the more likely that they would crop up to trample all over her expectations. Until she knew what was going on, she wouldn't be able to figure out what to do with herself in order to deal with it, and the last thing that she wanted was to be unprepared.

She decided that a different question might be easier to answer, and thus provide her with some helpful — yet potentially damning — information. However, before she could think of a question that her host might be able to answer, said host distracted her by kneeling before her and taking her hands in her own.

"Listen," she said earnestly, "I know you have questions, but someone far more qualified than I will answer them soon enough. In fact, any moment now a friend will arrive to take you to her."

Before Ranma could ask her who that person was, she felt something in the air that raised the hairs on her flesh. Miyuki seemed to sense it as well, because she got to her feet and moved to stand beside her. A second later, a moderately-visible sphere of energy appeared before them, and within it the image of a person began to quickly coalesce into something whole and real.

Miyuki bowed her head in respect to the new arrival. "I'm glad that you could come on such short notice, Sailor Mars."

Ranma sat in stunned, wide-eyed silence. While she hadn't ever paid any real attention to them, she'd known enough about the sailor senshi to identify the one in front of her. She had never expected to get involved with them, but now that she was... Just what had she gotten herself into?

Rei would have expressed her amusement at Ranma's reaction under different circumstances, but she opted to nod her head to acknowledge Miyuki's statement as she took in the sight of the redhead while outside of the crystal for the first time. "Thanks for taking care of her, Saotome-san. It's a real mess out there, but you shouldn't have much of a problem once their attention is diverted to the palace."

"Speaking of which," she added, as she reached over and pulled Ranma out of her chair, "we should make our tactical retreat."

"Wha...?" Ranma voiced as she found herself held about the waist, before looking up at the senshi of Mars with confusion and uncertainty.

Rei smiled down at her reassuringly. "Relax. This will probably be a bit disconcerting for you, but everything will be alright."

Whether Ranma had a response to that or not, Miyuki watched in silence as they disappeared a few seconds later, using the same method to leave that Sailor Mars had used to arrive. Then she leaned on the back of the chair, closed her eyes, and released a long and heavy sigh.

"I wish you the best... uncle."

* * *

It had been an hour since Ranma had arrived at the Crystal Palace, and she had spent the entire time waiting in a guest room. Said room and its furnishings could easily be described with such words as: big, ornate and expensive-looking. It left little doubt that she was in a palace, but the expanse of the crystal-covered city that she could see beyond the nearly-wall-length window, as well as the food and refreshments, had also helped.

She had opted to lay on the bed, with her hands tucked beneath her head, after she had explored the room and had become tired of the view that the window had to offer. As she stared up at the canopy, she tried to prepare herself mentally for what she might learn. She had no idea of how much time she had spent in the crystal, and a lot of things — important things — could have changed irrevocably. When she had made that spur-of-the-moment decision to seek sanctuary within the crystal, had she made a mistake?

And that was the thing: the idea hadn't been her own. Even now she felt the presence of the one that she had gotten the idea from, that she had listened to as if it had been her own idea. She didn't know who or what the presence was, aside from it being female, but despite the current prospects of her situation she still felt that she could trust it. All that she knew for sure was that it was a very kind and motherly presence, and she couldn't find it in her heart to reject it. At the moment, she was being buoyed by love and reassurance, which made it possible for her to feel calm and relaxed.

Just as she began to consider trying to communicate with the presence, she heard one of the levers belonging to the large and old-fashioned double doors being handled. With a jerk back into alertness, she sat up and quickly slid off the bed, so she could stand and be more presentable for her guest. Since she was in the palace, she figured that she should act as properly as she knew how, so she didn't offend anyone unnecessarily.

The woman who now stood in the open doorway surprised her, like a lot of things seemed to do since her awakening a short time ago. At most she had expected another (or the same) sailor senshi to see her, but had assumed that some kind of royal official would have been more likely; she hadn't expected the queen herself — of all people — to see to her needs. However, as surprising as it was, she didn't feel the kind of nervousness that would make one stutter and act awkwardly. Rather, her presence felt familiar and welcoming, which produced quite the opposite effect.

Usagi had paused in the doorway because she hadn't expected what she had discovered upon meeting the young redhead in person. She'd had her suspicions about who she might be, but her mother — the one housed in the moon's computer — had told her to wait and not to worry, instead of answering her questions. Now that the crystal from the Ginzuishou was no longer obfuscating her senses, she now knew that they shared a bond that went well beyond acquaintance and friendship. She didn't know the exact nature of their bond, but it did explain the girl's ability to use the Ginzuishou as well as she could. But why had her mother been mum about it?

Ultimately, it didn't really matter. With a casual grace borne from centuries of practice, she strode over to a now-bedazzled redhead and gathered her into her bosom, just like she had planned to do a very long time ago. She lost track of time as she hugged the young girl within her arms, as she thought about the girl's future and how she was going to make sure that she had a bright and wonderful one to look forward to.

After she finally withdrew, Ranma looked up at her with wide, expressive eyes. With her cheeks expressing a fetching shade of pink, she softly asked, "What was that for?"

Usagi smiled warmly. "Because I've felt you needed one ever since I learned about you."

"Now, come," she said, before Ranma had a chance to do more than worry about what she knew about her. She placed an arm across the smaller girl's shoulders and held the farthest one with a gentle grip as she began to lead her to a (relatively) small table surrounded by two high-backed armchairs. "We have a lot to discuss, and I was only able to spare so much time for you on such short notice."

When they were both seated at the table, Usagi spoke first in a casual and friendly manner. "Before we get into issues concerning the here and now, I'd like for you to tell me exactly what happened when you used the Ginzuishou to enclose yourself in its crystal. Depending on what you can tell me, it might give us an answer for why you were released from the crystal today."

Seeing that the girl across from her was uncomfortable and reluctant to answer, she tried to soothe her concerns. "I'm not here to judge you. You have my full support, and I want to help you as much as I can."

Ranma saw the sincerity in the queen's visage, and heard it in her voice, but — even with the presence insisting that she could trust her — she found it hard to open up on a subject that she had never shared with anyone before (or ever intended to, for that matter). So it took her a moment to put her thoughts together, so she could put into words the thoughts and feelings that she had never planned on sharing with anyone.

"Well," she hesitantly began, "I... didn't know what else to do. I had all of these conflicting obligations and expectations... and stuff. I tried to work it all out, but... I couldn't. The longer I tried, even more problems got added, and things kept getting worse." She looked down at her hands and lowered her voice. "I was getting... desperate. I realized I needed more time, by myself, if there was going to be any hope of fixing _anything_, but I couldn't get away." She paused to take a measured breath. "When I felt the crystal coming, I was suddenly aware of this... presence, for lack of a better word. It told me that the crystal would give me the time and peace I needed to resolve everything, and since that's exactly what I'd been hoping for, I did what I'd wanted to do for a long time. I..." She lowered her head and whispered, "I... ran away."

"So you needed to get away from your problems," Usagi deduced in a sympathetic tone. "From what I know of them, I understand completely. When I first learned about your circumstances, I was amazed that such a thing could happen — or be allowed to happen, for that matter. I was... very upset."

Ranma raised her head and smiled wanly at that. It was strange, really, because it felt like she was talking to a very old and dear friend, rather than a queen or a practical stranger. And — as far as she knew — she'd never had such a friend before... Yet, once she'd opened up and shared something very personal with her, not only did she find relief in it but a sort of familiarity, too. So, rather than deny what she'd already admitted, she felt grateful for the sympathetic ear.

When Usagi was sure that her position on the matter was understood, she said, "You mentioned a presence. What can you tell me about it?"

"Not much," Ranma replied, as she scratched the side of her face. "I don't know about the crystal thing, but she seems very nice and I feel like I can trust her. Before you got here I'd just realized that I could try communicating with her, so..."

"Would you care to try right now?" Usagi suggested with a smile, having an idea of what kind of presence it could be. "At the very least it might allow us to understand why she made her presence known to you when she did, and why she suggested what she did to help you."

Ranma nodded her head once before she focused inward and posed the question. The answer that she received was both short and unenlightening, and her disappointment, confusion and minor annoyance was expressed by a frown.

With a hint of concern, Usagi asked, "Is something wrong?"

Ranma crossed her arms and grumbled, "She says she's 'a guide,' and that she won't tell me anything more than that until 'the time is right.'"

Usagi blinked her eyes at that. It didn't sound like a sailor guardian, like she had expected. Still, she could empathize with that kind of secrecy, and expressed as much with her visage because she'd had to deal with it on far too many occasions herself. Before she could ask a question about it, the redhead seemed to be mollified by whatever the "guide" must have added, perhaps even a bit touched.

Ranma released a sigh of both relief and resignation before she said, "She also says that she loves me, and intends to see me happy."

Usagi smiled and nodded her head. "I feel the same way."

Despite Ranma's sense of familiarity with the queen (even though they'd never met before), she still felt surprised by her statement. If both the queen and her so-called guide were to be believed, then they could be considered the first to ever really care about her, even if they had yet to live up to their claims. However, just hearing someone actually say such a thing allowed her to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"Really?" She asked with hope-filled eyes.

"Of course," Usagi affirmed, before her expression became sad and conflicted. "Which is why I'm reluctant to say what I have to tell you, even though you need to hear it."

She bit her bottom lip as she regarded the stiff-bodied and anxious-eyed redhead, who was no doubt trying to prepare herself mentally for the bad news that she had to deliver. But she couldn't do it at such an impersonal distance, which had been the result of a habit that she had picked up as a queen. She felt that it would be better to tell her in a more personal manner, so she would be within hugging distance.

So she got up from her chair and went over to the bed to sit, and began to pat the space next to her invitingly. "Please, come here and join me."

Ranma did so slowly, who was caught between the fear and necessity of learning something significant that was all but guaranteed to be bad news. Her guide was there to support her, and told her that the queen had moved their conversation to the bed for the exact same reason, because she truly cared about her. It was reassuring to know, particularly with the effort that she had to put into keeping her nerves under control. And she was also relieved by the fact that her sense of familiarity with the matriarch made it possible for her to sit close to her without feeling uncomfortable.

Usagi looked down into Ranma's eyes with compassion, as she tried to figure out exactly what she wanted to say, and how to say it. Even her long experience as a queen didn't make it easy to say what needed to be said. When too much time had passed, and she considered herself as ready as she could make herself, she reached over and clasped the young redhead's hands within her own.

"Oh, Ranma," she said softly, speaking the girl's name for the first time. "I don't know how else to say this, but... The day I covered this city in crystal... That was almost fifteen-hundred years ago."

Ranma felt the world drop out from underneath her, and her mind skipped a groove. She wasn't sure if she'd heard right. "Wh-what...?"

Usagi squeezed the girl's hands and intensified her look of compassion. "You were inside of the crystal for nearly fifteen-hundred years."

"But..." Ranma tried to argue, to deny the possibility, but the implications and lightheadedness were making it difficult to do so, because she suspected that it really was possible. "That can't..." Her voice had already become faint and quavering. "No..."

Usagi's heart wrenched at the effect that her words were having, but she knew that the martial artist who had been born in the twentieth century had to face and accept the truth: that she was now living in the thirty-fourth century.

"I'm afraid it's the truth," she said, her voice strained by emotion as she looked into the now-wet and searching eyes that had wanted to hear anything else but that. "Even with humanity's lifespan now being one-thousand years on average, you're only one of a handful of individuals who have lived for as long as you have." Seeing the look of horror borne of realization dawning on her face, she couldn't help adding, "I'm _so sorry_."

Ranma was so overwhelmed by what she'd heard, that not only didn't she know what to do, but she had become too confused to even realize that she had begun to breathe shallowly from stress and anxiety. Before she knew it, she'd fainted from emotional distress for the very first time in her life.

Usagi collected the girl's limp body into her lap and cried silently. Her tears fell onto her crimson hair, where her chin was nestled. She remained that way until she heard a knock at the door, which told her that she'd used up all of the time that she had managed to open up for the poor girl that she didn't yet want to let go of, much less leave.

There wasn't much of anything that she could do while Ranma was unconscious, so she eventually responded to the summons at the door — even if reluctantly. However, before she left, she made sure to tuck the redhead into the bed and kissed her on the forehead. Then, before she reached the door, she paused to address the girl's supposed guide.

"I don't know who you are," she whispered, her hands clenched at her sides, "but mark my words: if I find out that you didn't have a very good reason for doing this, I'll make you regret it."

After the door closed behind her, said guide — who only Ranma could have seen at the time (had she been awake) — was standing by the side of the bed nearest her charge, smiling sadly in the direction of the door.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Ranma once again found himself wandering the streets of Crystal Tokyo aimlessly. While he didn't particularly dislike being in the palace, it felt rather awkward being there, as he didn't know what to do with himself. His hosts weren't sure what to do with him either, which was a part of what made him feel awkward while he was there.

However, being outside had its own set of problems.

To begin with, he had to be a guy unless he wanted to be mobbed, due to the popularity of his female self, so he had to be extra-careful about being splashed by cold water. That he could get around without attracting unwanted attention at all was due to the fact that hardly anyone remembered "The Maiden" originally being a guy, which wasn't — exactly — a heartening thought.

Another problem was that he was so out-of-date. If not for the fashionable clothing that he had been supplied with by his benefactors, he would have stood out like a sore thumb. Unfortunately, his old-fashioned vocabulary and manner of speech would require a lot more work, and until then he'd have to reserve who it was he spoke to until such a time that he could speak to anyone and not be looked at like a weirdo and/or an idiot. Considering how his age didn't present a twenty-something image yet, which anyone old enough to still speak like he did would look like, he might attract unwanted attention on top of that.

The biggest problem — at the moment — was related to the last, in that his ability to use and interact with modern technology was rather impaired. Nowadays people operated most things with magic, telekinesis and mental commands, which he was currently incapable of doing on all counts. While not everyone could use the first two abilities, being capable of at least one of them was very common, and everyone could always fall back on the mental commands (which was often learned as naturally as walking and talking in modern times). For him, who was completely unaccustomed to doing such a thing as conveying a mental command, it would require months of training to get his brain in shape to do it.

However, aside from the problems that arose from being a stranger in a strange land, even more serious problems lay elsewhere.

One of those problems was his family and the Tendo family (which didn't come as much of a surprise). Apparently, despite having a brother who married a Tendo, he was still expected to do the same. His parents and Soun had pounded the idea into most of their grandchildren's heads, and they into the heads of their own children. Instead of the original reason for doing so, now it was more like the reason that the Joketsuzoku'd had for desiring him. After all, if even the queen didn't have enough control of the Ginzuishou to get him out of the crystal, then he must have something special that was worth keeping under their own supervision and control. Add on to that the whole "Maiden" thing...

And that was another problem. Over the course of so many centuries, and two events that either heavily damaged or nearly wiped out the city (leaving him untouched both times), he'd become something of a legend with a rather substantial following. Next to the palace and the city itself, he had become the most popular site to visit by people both far and wide. Those people had all kinds of ideas for why he would be released from the crystal, many of them relating to one destiny or another, but the one thing that they all had in common: _she_ would do those things, not him.

He hadn't really thought much about it... at first. He hadn't realized how serious it was until he had been advised to appear on television worldwide to assure everyone — to whom it concerned — that _she_ was alright and had a lot to adjust to before she could function in public. Which was true enough, though he had no intention of living a girl's life for anyone, and he'd even had half of a mind to demonstrate his curse in order to abolish such a thought. After being told that taking such an action wouldn't be a wise thing to do so suddenly, he hadn't, but he had also been told that he probably wouldn't have an easier time once his condition and preference for being male was made known.

With a long-suffering sigh, he sought out a nearby alley where he could use some of the city's crystal in privacy. Once there, and he was sure that no one could see him, he willed himself into his female form, so she'd be able to use the crystal.

It was nice to control which body she wore when, which her guide had been more than willing to teach her. Of course, she wasn't exactly thrilled by the fact that she couldn't do anything special with the crystal unless she was a girl, which just seemed to reinforce the idea that there was some truth behind the beliefs and expectations of those who followed "The Maiden."

After she shook her head to clear away such thoughts, she walked through the crystal and disappeared, only to reappear in the palace, from a wall of the room where she had been living since her awakening three weeks earlier. Not for the first time since then, she threw herself onto the bed and rested on her back with her limbs splayed out, as she stared up at the bed's canopy. Since she was keeping her female and male identities separate, and she only left the palace as a male, she remained female to prevent anyone from seeing a strange and unaccounted-for guy in the palace by chance.

Why did life have to be so complicated? It had been bad enough to lose just about everything that had held any meaning to her, for the sake of escaping multiple fiancées, rivals and a host of troublesome and unwanted obligations, and in the end she'd acquired some new problems simply by being a living monument. Now strangers in the hundreds of millions had great expectations of her, and ever since she had been released from the crystal that number had been steadily rising as everyone waited and hypothesized what she would do and/or become.

That in itself wasn't a problem, but how she responded to it would be: because whatever choice she made would likely affect her future prospects. If she went along with being "The Maiden," she could expect to be highly esteemed and accepted, but it would require living as a girl and acting as many would expect the "The Maiden" to act. However, if she held on to her manhood and declared herself a man, a lot of people were bound to be disappointed and upset, and she'd likely become a nobody whom some would mistreat for whatever offense her decision had caused. Or, if she decided to live as a man but kept that from the public, the disappearance of "The Maiden" could lead to an even worse reaction, particularly since she had been under the queen's care.

She rolled onto her side, and her gaze couldn't help being drawn to the device that was lying on the nightstand. The device in question projected videos or images via a holographic screen, and this particular one had a copy of every message that had ever been left for her by the people that she would never see again in person. When it seemed like she would be in the crystal for a long time, people had begun leaving messages for her, in case her stay in the crystal turned out to be longer than they would live.

She couldn't even begin to describe exactly how she had felt after she had finished reading those messages, because she had very mixed feelings about it. She had thought that the shock of outliving everyone that she had known couldn't have been topped by anything else, but she had been wrong. It had taken her four days to read, listen and watch all of the messages, and more than once each day she found herself both emotionally raw and drained. Then, for nearly a week afterward, she'd break down whenever a particularly poignant part of a message had come to mind.

On one hand, it had been the worst experience in her life: she'd never cried so much before, and sometimes the pangs in her chest, the nausea in her belly, or the wrenching of her heart were so bad that she had feared having a serious health problem. On the other hand, she had to admit that quite a few people had secured themselves a nice life without her fouling it up (by continuing to be a part of the equation), and the messages had eventually helped her to get passed the initial shock of what her stay in the crystal had cost her.

Yet, despite all that, she didn't blame her guide for any of it, or think poorly of her. If anything, she felt closer to her than ever, even though they didn't communicate much verbally. She had been with her while she had been going through those messages, after all — sharing in her pain as she conveyed both support and empathy. There was no question that they shared a deep connection, even if she didn't yet comprehend its nature.

More than that, both she and Usagi (as she preferred to be called in private) both recognized the significant connection between themselves, which didn't include the familial resemblance that they somehow shared. Usagi, who was on a more familiar ground when it came to such things, was pretty sure that her time in the crystal had served a purpose beyond the most obvious. It was only a matter of figuring it out, which included the reason for why she hadn't been released from the crystal until the moment that the last surviving person from her past (that she had known personally) had died.

She sat up attentively when she felt the presence beyond her bedroom door, a second before her visitor knocked on it. "Come in!"

Usagi stepped into her room a moment later, who — much to her surprise — was followed in by her daughter. She'd heard much about the queen of Elysium, and had seen pictures of her, but this was her first time meeting her in person. She looked a lot like her mother, except her hair was pink and her eyes were an amaranth red. Like her mother, she styled her hair with a pair of odango-topped pigtails, except her odango were shaped like upside down carrots instead of balls.

She'd become quite casual with Usagi, but she'd yet to establish any kind of relationship with her daughter, so she hopped out of bed and tried to make herself more presentable. That caused both of her guests to smile with amusement, so she smiled a bit self-consciously and made herself relax.

Usagi greeted her with a hug, and before her daughter did the same she was given an introduction by her. "This is my daughter, Usagi, though — to prevent confusion — we've taken to calling her Usako."

"It's nice to finally meet you," Usako greeted Ranma during their hug, before she pulled away and looked her over. "You really _do_ appear to be related to us. And you're about the same size as we were at your age. Well," her eyes fell upon the redhead's chest, "for the most part, anyway."

"Is there something wrong with blossoming late?" Usagi huffed defensively.

"Not at all," Usako replied casually, before she leaned closer to Ranma so she could whisper in her ear conspiratorially. "To tell you the truth, she's usually a bit slow about things in general."

"Hey!" Came Usagi's indignant reply, before both she and her daughter giggled good-naturedly about it.

Ranma couldn't help smiling at their camaraderie, despite the twinge of envy and regret that she felt inside. She'd never been anywhere near that close to her mother, much less anyone that she had considered (quite loosely) a friend. Why couldn't she have gotten along with anyone like that before she had been sealed within the crystal?

"Come," Usagi eventually said, as she gestured toward the bed, "let's sit."

Ranma soon found herself sitting on her bed, between the two queens, though it didn't feel like she was. Still, it seemed that this was not going to be a mere social gathering, and she wondered what it meant for Usagi's daughter to be present for it. Hopefully it wouldn't be for anything serious.

After a moment of silence, Usagi turned to her and began to speak. "As you know, Ranma, I've been discussing your situation with the others, so we can come up with some solutions to your problems."

Ranma simply nodded her head at that, as Usagi had mentioned on more than one occasion her talks with her friends, not all of whom were among her family and the sailor senshi.

"On the matter of your adjustment," Usagi continued, "I think you'll agree that there's simply too much to take in and get used to after what happened. Plus, there are forces at work — namely your relatives and those who follow you as 'The Maiden' — trying to move you forward before you are ready. So, we thought that it would be best to send you back to the past for a while."

Ranma was surprised to hear of such a solution, but was quickly overcome by excitement. "You can do that!?"

"Yes," Usagi replied, her somber expression beginning to sap the redhead's excitement even before she added, "but not for the reason you think. Surely you know some of the dangers of time travel?"

Ranma nodded her head with some reluctance. "I could name a few."

Usagi pat her knee consolingly. "While we _could_ send you back to the time immediately following your confinement in the crystal, would you _really_ want to put yourself back into the very same situation that had led to you being encased by the crystal in the first place?"

Ranma shook her head after a moment's thought. As much as she would like to be back in a setting that she was familiar with, what would be the point if certain things remained the same? And they would, because she had no idea of how to resolve the issues that had caused her to retreat into the crystal. Besides, according to the messages that had been left for her, most of the people that she had known had carried on just fine without her.

Usagi gave her knee a gentle squeeze. "Moving forward will be for the best. To facilitate that, you'll take back some things with you to learn, such as what the Japanese language has evolved into, history, how common technology works these days, and how to project mental commands." She smiled slightly and made a gesture toward her daughter. "You might even learn some magic."

Turning her attention to Usako, Ranma saw that she was holding out some kind of crystal, and wanted her to accept it. Whatever it was, it was pink, and had a shape reminiscent of a lotus flower in full bloom.

"What's this?" She asked, as the crystal was placed in her hand.

"That," Usako said, smiling wryly, "is the Ginzuishou. Well, it's not silver anymore, but being consistent with the name makes it easier to relate what it is."

Ranma stared at the crystal that was now in her possession with disbelief. Unless they were pulling her leg, not only was she now holding the most powerful known object, but it sounded like she might do more with it than just hold it. Not knowing how to respond, she looked between the two queens questioningly, before settling her attention on the one that had given her the Ginzuishou.

"I don't have a particular need for it anymore," Usako explained, with a shrug of her shoulders. "After mom got Crystal Tokyo up and running, she didn't have much use for it, either."

"Besides," Usagi chipped in, drawing Ranma's attention to her, "this might shed some light on what your relation to us is."

Ranma looked down at the Ginzuishou for a moment, before she looked up at Usagi and asked, "Is this really okay?"

Usagi smiled softly and nodded her head. "I trust you."

Ranma looked away and blushed, feeling a warmth inside that used to be rare until meeting Usagi and her friends.

"Now," Usagi spoke up, becoming serious once more, "those aren't the only reasons for why we think you should spend some time in the past."

Seeing the look in her eyes, Ranma knew that it wasn't going to be something that she would like. "What other reason is there?"

Usagi sighed. "Ranma, while I do respect your choice in sex, and will continue to do so, I must question the wisdom of basing your decision on male pride."

"It's not just that," Ranma argued, feeling uncomfortable about where things might go. "I mean, that's how I was born. It's what I'm used to."

"Exactly," Usako chimed in. "You've never allowed yourself to become accustomed to living as a girl. I can understand why that would be the case, up until recently, but what's stopping you from trying it now?"

Before Ranma could mount some kind of protest, Usagi added, "We're not saying that you _must_ go through with this. I'm recommending that you live as a girl for a while as a friend, because I want you to make an informed decision. While this _does_ have something to do with all of those followers of 'The Maiden,' it has even more to do with you and your future." She reached over and took one of the redhead's hands into her own. "You've just suffered a traumatic loss, after all, and for all intents and purposes find yourself in a strange, new world. Your future prospects have opened up as a consequence, except — unlike most — you also get to choose which sex you'll be. Do you really want to dismiss half of the possibilities without first making sure that they're not for you?"

Ranma stared down at her lap, as she tried to consider Usagi's suggestion seriously. It wasn't easy, but the queen had proven very understanding and supportive so far, and was only trying to look out for her best interests. It wasn't like she was trying to force her into doing anything, but the idea of being a girl for any great length of time was quite disquieting. She'd had enough problems with her image and identity when she changed back and forth, and she feared losing herself if her time as a girl went too far.

"There's one more thing," Usagi stated softly, after she gave Ranma some time to think about what she had said. "If you choose to live in the past, there's something that I'd like for you to consider during that time."

Ranma looked up at Usagi inquiringly. "Like what?"

Usagi bit her bottom lip. "I'd like to adopt you."

Ranma's mouth dropped open in surprise. Despite how well they had gotten along since the beginning, it had never occurred to her that it could have amounted to anything beyond friendship. While Usagi certainly had a maternal way of going about things often enough, she had simply assumed that it had something to do with their ages, seeing as she was more than old enough to have raised a child to adulthood while she herself was still just shy of being recognized as an adult by the state.

"I take it that you didn't see that coming," Usako quipped.

With her cheeks now flushing with embarrassment, Ranma closed her mouth and bowed her head self-consciously.

Usagi gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "There's no need to feel embarrassed. A lot has changed, and I'm sure you've had a lot on your mind."

"Of course," she added, "I'll accept you no matter which sex you choose to be, or if you decide to switch back and forth whenever you feel like it."

Ranma felt the familiar sting of tears in her eyes, although — this time — they were not ones inspired by grief. Usagi was so thoughtful, honest and kind that it was almost unbelievable, and put the likes of Kasumi to shame. She had been there for her since day one, talking to her, listening to her, guiding her, or being there when she needed to be comforted. It was almost too good to be true.

Her guide hadn't been wrong about the queen of Crystal Tokyo. And if her guide could make such a good suggestion, then might the individual whom the guide had suggested also be worth listening to?

She figured that there was only one way to find out, so she squeezed Usagi's hand in order to draw some strength from it.

* * *

A few days later she found herself in the gloomy and mist-ridden fourth dimension, with Usagi, Usako and Sailor Pluto, next to the Door of Time. She had just been given a space-time key from among those that dangled from the chain around Pluto's waist, and was now being taught how to use it.

She was currently dressed in a high school girl's uniform, of the sailor variety, which — she had been told — was a match for what was being worn in Jūban's high school. She also wore a backpack, a special kind that could hold much more than its appearance would otherwise suggest. Aside from that, she had traded in her trademark pigtail for a simple, unbound look. Which was just as well, now that it had been made a bit longer and changed from a vivid red to a very lustrous, pale pink. Between that and her bright, golden eyes, she was looking more exotic than ever.

After Pluto had finished teaching her how to use the space-time key, Usagi reviewed the short-term plan with her: first, find her past self; second, give her the letter that "explained" the situation; three, have her family (excluding her past self) brainwashed into believing that one of their relatives was going to be staying with them for a while — again. Ranma wasn't all that keen about that last part, but if it had been done twice already, well... Why not thrice?

As for the long-term plan, she didn't need to go over that one because she knew very well what that was all about. It primarily involved learning fifteen-hundred years of history, how to speak as those in the thirty-fourth century did, and how to project mental commands. Then there was the Ginzuishou, to find out what kind of magical potential she had, although Usako had told her that she shouldn't be surprised if her will alone wasn't enough to activate it. Which only left...

"Now," Usagi said, as she placed her hands on Ranma's shoulders and smiled softly, "remember to take it easy and explore the life of a girl at your own pace. You don't have to feel obligated to do anything that you're uncomfortable with, and you don't have to commit to anything that feels unnatural." She gave her shoulders an encouraging squeeze. "Okay?"

Ranma readily returned her smile. "More than."

Usagi leant forward and planted a kiss on top of her head. "Good. Rather than think of it as work, just try to enjoy yourself."

Ranma nodded her head in agreement before she stepped away with some reluctance and activated the space-time key. A moment and a bright flash of light later, she was gone, and Usagi's expression turned wistful.

Usako was at her mother's side a few steps later, and stared at the space that had formerly been occupied by Ranma. "You remembered Ranma when I was changing her appearance, didn't you?"

Usagi nodded her head faintly. "Yes. At first, the suggestion that she pretend to be your daughter had bothered me, but I didn't know why. However, when you began to change her appearance, so she took more after your husband than yourself..."

Usako placed a comforting hand on her mother's shoulder. "What is it?"

"I really missed her," Usagi admitted quietly. "I knew I would be in for a long wait, but knowing and experiencing are two very different things. Honestly, I didn't mean to, but I felt a bit disappointed when your firstborn was a boy."

"She left that kind of impression on you, huh?" Usako said, who smiled sympathetically.

Usagi wiped at suddenly misty eyes. "Knowing what I know now, and what I can remember, the next few hours might just feel like the longest time I've ever waited."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When the environment around Ranma resolved itself, after the effects of her transportation method had subsided, she found herself standing on the rooftop of a fairly tall building, with the high-altitude winds blowing her hair into her face. From her new vantage point, she had a very good view of Tokyo's Minato ward, with a few notable landmarks (namely Tokyo Tower and the fairly new Rainbow Bridge) being well within viewing range.

She wasn't all that familiar with this part of Tokyo, but she had studied a couple of old (for the thirty-fourth century) maps of the area prior to her arrival, one a road map and the other a photograph taken by a satellite. As a traveling martial artist who was not restricted to roadways and such, she had learned to take direction more from visual cues than from a map, which was why she had suggested being sent to such a high place (which also happened to have the added benefit of being an out-of-the-way location that would be favorable for her method of travel).

After she worked out where Azabu-Jūban was, she ran toward the side of the building that faced it and leapt over its edge without a second thought. After all, even had the building been tall enough for her to reach terminal velocity by the time she landed somewhere, she would have been okay even if she happened to land on her head. It would have hurt like nobody's business, of course, but she would have still been able to walk it off.

She made her way toward her destination via rooftop, until she reached the street where the Tsukino's house was located. At that point she reaquainted herself with the ground, and began to walk up the street like a normal person would. Being that it was a Saturday, where the local school's classes were only in session during the morning hours, she didn't look out of place since the school had dismissed its students only a half of an hour or so earlier.

She eventually found herself standing on the Tsukino's porch, before the front door, where she thought, "Well, this is it..."

She reached out to ring the doorbell, but her finger hesitated a scant few centimeters away from the button. If she did this, she knew that she would reach the point of no return. She would have to follow through with the plan and live with the Tsukino family for a few years, then move out and live on her own (if not with a friend). Once things were set in motion for Usagi to become the queen of Crystal Tokyo, which was about six years away from the present time, that would be the sign for her to return to the future.

After steeling herself for such a long commitment, she forged ahead and rang the doorbell. As she waited for someone to answer, she idly wondered where her eleven-year-old self was at that very moment. She couldn't remember where she and her father had been specifically, though she was pretty sure that it hadn't been near the heart of Tokyo; she only recalled going to Tokyo Tower way back during the beginning of primary school, with her class. She wasn't sure, but her father might have taken them to Hokkaido after the debacle that had been the neko-ken, which had happened when she was ten.

Her attention was brought back to the present when she heard the doorknob turn. The door opened a second later, revealing an older woman who bore a fair resemblance to Usako, except her hair was a bit darker and her eyes a bit lighter. This — she realized — was Ikuko, Usagi's mother (her second, if one counted her past life as well). It seemed that she may have been washing dishes before answering the door, because she was holding a hand towel in her free hand.

Upon seeing her, Ikuko peered at her as if she looked familiar, yet couldn't place how. She imagined that it was probably because of the fact that she — for all intents and purposes — appeared to take after her yet-to-be-born grandchild, considering how her face had been changed to look more like it had come directly from Usako and Helios. Before, her visage had made her look more like Usagi's sister. Either way, it would be enough to convince people that she was a cousin unless they were too closely associated with the Tsukino family, which would help her to avoid having to brainwash every single person that she had to sell her story to.

She didn't want Ikuko to think about her appearance too much, so she bowed formally and said, "Hello, Tsukino-san. My name is Tendo Ranko."

That really wasn't her name, or going to be, but she figured that it would be inconspicuous enough to get her foot in the door. She'd attend to the brainwashing thing later, once she and Usagi were on the same page: because the last thing that she wanted was for Usagi to walk in on her while she was brainwashing her family, without knowing why it was being done — and by whom — beforehand.

"Oh?" Ikuko responded, as Ranma's outfit finally caught her attention. "Do you happen to know my daughter?"

Ranma smiled and nodded her head. "Yes. I was just transferred to Jūban High, and Usagi was nice enough to help me get settled in."

Ikuko felt a swelling of pride upon hearing that. "I'm glad to hear that. Did you come here to see Usagi, then?"

Ranma nodded her head once again. "She said that she would show me around the area with her friends this afternoon."

Having established the nature of her visit, Ikuko smiled and moved aside, inviting her in with a gesture. "Why don't you come in?" Because of her attire and the time of day, she added, "Have you eaten anything, yet?"

"I tried out one of the local restaurants before I came here," Ranma replied, while she removed her shoes in the genkan. When she was done and standing upright once more, she smiled and added, "Thanks for offering, though."

After Ikuko told her where she could find Usagi, they exchanged some parting words before they went their separate ways. On her way to the second floor, via the stairs, not for the first time did she wonder what kind of person Usagi had been at the tender age of sixteen, and how different she would be from the fifteen-hundred-year-old Usagi that she knew in the future.

Hopefully she wouldn't be like many of the teenage girls that she had gotten to know before, who tended to be violent, possessive, self-centered and — at times — psychopathic. Beyond that, she didn't really know what kind of girls she would like to interact with, since she'd never tried to connect with them like she had done with the guys. (Well, there had been Ukyo, but that had been under special circumstances, and it wasn't like she had taken that connection very far when given the opportunity to do so anyway.)

She soon stood before Usagi's bedroom door, which she stared at for a moment before she rapped the back of her index finger against it. By now she was becoming a bit nervous, because there was a possibility that Luna was in the same room as Usagi. If she was, things could get awkward and/or messy.

"Yeah?" Came Usagi's response, muffled somewhat by the door.

Ranma drew in a calming breath and opened the door. She hadn't been sure of what to expect, as far as what the room would look like, but she was relieved to see that Luna wasn't a part of that picture. She'd half-expected the room to be girly enough to be offensive to her eyes, like she imagined Shiratori Azusa's might be, but the colors and contents of the room were fairly tame. It was either that, or her tolerance for such things was higher than she had first thought.

On the bed, lying on her stomach, was Usagi, who was wearing a loose-fitting T-shirt and a pair of capri pants. She was idly kicking her feet back and forth in the air behind her, as she read some manga.

When she failed to do more than open the door, Usagi turned a page before she was ready to divert her attention away from her manga. When she saw her, a girl who looked familiar and probably felt even more so, the look of confusion on her face was rather understandable, as was the need to put the manga aside and sit up.

"Who are you?" Usagi pointedly asked.

After pulling out a letter from within her blouse, Ranma approached Usagi and held it out to her. "Read this, please."

Usagi absently accepted the letter, her attention remaining fixed on the stranger as the exchange was made. When her eyes finally fell upon the letter that she now held in her hands, she had a sneaking suspicion about its contents in relation to the person who had given it to her, feeling as if she should know what to expect.

After she opened the letter and began to read it, the reason for her suspicion soon became evident: except the request was being made by her daughter, rather than by her future self. The significance of that concept made her pause, and she found herself glancing up at the familiar-looking girl before her, her eyes going wide as she realized just who it was she was looking at.

"Omigawd!" She exclaimed in the privacy of her own mind. "She's my granddaughter! _I'm_ a grandmother!"

It took her a bit of effort, but she returned her attention to the letter and began to read further. To sum it up, there were certain circumstances that couldn't be mentioned, regarding her granddaughter's situation, seeing as how the foreknowledge could prove dangerous. All that she needed to know was that her granddaughter required time to recover and adjust, time that was lacking in the present of the future. Her daughter had also seen it fit to pass the Ginzuishou down to her granddaughter, which she might find easier to use in the not-so-peaceful twentieth century. Apparently, between the two, it would require her to look after her granddaughter until such a time that Crystal Tokyo was nearly realized.

After absorbing all that information and what it meant, she lowered the letter and managed to give her granddaughter a natural smile despite what had just been dropped into her lap. "So, Pandeia, is it?"

Ranma nodded her head. "Pandeia" was going to be her alias while she was in the past, which was the name that her guide had suggested. She didn't know much about it, aside from it being Greek in origin, but it somehow felt... right. Granted, it sounded a bit odd for a Japanese name, but that was nothing that a little tale about a Greek-speaking mother couldn't handle.

"Have you brainwashed my family, yet?" Usagi asked, her smile no longer reaching her eyes, but her tone one of resignation.

"Not yet," Ranma replied, with a shake of her head. "Is it really okay, though?"

"I guess," Usagi replied, with a shrug of her shoulders, while the newcomer's politeness began to warm her up to the idea of having her around.

Every other time her family had been brainwashed, it had been done without being asked, and the first time her own daughter had almost managed to brainwash her with the rest of her family. It was nice to know that someone — especially a member of her own family — had some reservation about brainwashing people.

"It's among the most convenient and safest options to choose, for a person from the future trying to live in the past," she added, by way of explanation. "Or so I've been told. The only problem — that I've noticed — is that mom sometimes worries that she's forgetting something important, but she can't remember what it is."

Ranma simply nodded her head in understanding, not knowing what to say in response to that. Brainwashing certainly _could_ have its uses, if used wisely and sparingly, but she didn't like the idea of forgetting something that she cared about. She found it a regretful experience when she thought back on the time when Akane had been brainwashed by Shampoo, because she had recovered her memory through anger instead of love.

Due to the awkward silence that followed, since neither knew where to go with the last subject (as a starting point), Usagi's attention was drawn back to the letter as she recalled a detail that she wanted to address. "Anyway, your mother says here that you have ailurophobia." She looked back up at Ranma with an expression of concern, and noticed that she appeared to have been made uncomfortable. "When she says 'extreme,' what does she mean?"

Ranma looked away and began to fidget with her hands. "Um... When my fear gets bad enough, a cat personality takes over and I have no recollection of what happens?" She glanced over at Usagi for a second, saw the gobsmacked expression on her face, and felt the need to add, "I'm usually not dangerous unless provoked..."

Usagi's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "How did something like _that_ happen?"

Ranma appeared to grumble something under her breath before she muttered, "It was caused by a... training accident."

With a drawn out, "Oh," Usagi recalled another part of the letter. "Your mother mentioned something about martial arts training." Her expression turned sympathetic. "You really tried to compensate for being unable to use the Ginzuishou, huh?"

Seeing as that was a part of her fabricated story, Ranma simply nodded her head. She didn't really care for all of the lying being done, but time travel wasn't something to be taken lightly, and certain changes to the future — both near and far — needed to be avoided in order to prevent a disaster.

Taking her silent reply to mean something else, Usagi got up from her bed and took the other girl's hands into her own, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure you'll be able to use it someday."

"For now," she continued, with a lighthearted air, "let's get the brainwashing stuff out of the way. After we get you set up in the guest room, maybe you'd feel like showing me some of your martial arts moves?"

Ranma didn't really think that Usagi was all that interested in martial arts, but she had to smile because the blonde was just trying to make said martial arts sound like they hadn't been a waste of time, as far as the reality known to her was concerned. "Sure."

* * *

The brainwashing went well, as far as such a thing went without one's scruples having something to say about it. Usagi's mother, father and younger brother now believed that "Pandeia" was a cousin among their extended family, and that they had agreed to take care of her while her single mother went overseas on some long-term project as a part of her job.

Afterward, Ranma was shown to the guest room by Ikuko, who insisted she be called "Ikuko-mama" instead of "oba-san" when the latter had been used while expressing her gratitude. Once she was alone and had the door to her new room closed, she set her backpack on the bed, opened it up, and began to unpack.

It wasn't long after she had started that Usagi made a reappearance, who had gone to make a call in order to inform certain people of the new and unexpected development. She had offered her assistance upon her return, but Ranma had politely declined it, citing the fact that anyone but her would find the backpack empty unless they knew how to get around that particular feature.

With that being the case, Usagi seated herself at the desk across from the bed and began to watch "Pandeia" at work, trying to think of something to talk about, in order to learn more about her granddaughter. After a short time doing so, she noticed something that she thought worthy of comment.

"Do people in the future wear the same fashion as we do now?" She asked.

"Not exactly," Ranma answered, as she pulled out from her backpack another outfit that was already on a hanger, before pausing to give Usagi her undivided attention. "There are a lot of new styles and materials, and a lot of the old ones are matched together differently or combined into a single piece." She paused and looked up thoughtfully. "From what I've seen, I'd say that at least half of my wardrobe isn't worn often enough for me to see them worn by others, and the rest don't seem to be any of the current trends."

Usagi nodded her head in understanding, for the most part, as she watched her granddaughter move her latest outfit toward the closet. "So, what you have here isn't what you would normally wear?"

Ranma chuckled in response, as that was pretty much the case. Sure, much of her new wardrobe had been of a type used as a part of a disguise at one point or another, but her disguises weren't what she normally wore. More to the point: what she tended to wear had been masculine if not androgynous in nature, rather than tailored for the fairer sex in particular.

Of course, at present her wardrobe consisted of quite the opposite, and she had been mildly surprised that every single article of clothing had turned out to be her own idea. Even though she had been given carte blanche regarding what she could take with her (so long as they were faithful to the time period), without so much as being given a suggestion on what she should or shouldn't wear, she'd opted for something mildly feminine — overall — instead of tomboyish.

It hadn't surprised her all that much for several reasons. First of all, she no longer had any male-oriented obligations to worry about, especially the one that would require her to commit seppuku if she failed to uphold it. There was also the fact that she was already accustomed to wearing feminine attire and underwear, which she normally wouldn't have admitted to anyone in another life. Then there was her curse, which was no longer dictated by the temperature of water, which meant that the clothes once practical for her curse were no longer necessary. In addition to that, the unlikelihood of being challenged by a martial artist meant that it was also unnecessary to dress for that sort of thing as well. Finally, there was Usagi and her guide, who had given her the confidence to explore life as a girl on her own terms.

As it turned out, when it came down to her own terms, it wasn't a tomboy that she saw in the mirror; nor — of course — was it an examplar of femininity. She wasn't sure what kind of image was being portrayed in the mirror, or what the mirror might show her in the future, but she was fairly casual in her selection of clothes, with plenty of the standard articles that were recognized as belonging to the fairer sex. Perhaps, at the moment, she appeared to be nothing more than an average girl with an average life. If so, she could live with that: there was no rush to find either herself or himself, and there may — in fact — never be a need for it.

"Not really," she answered Usagi, before she saw an opportunity to speak some truth. "Since I was very dedicated to training myself in the martial arts, a lot of these clothes weren't very practical."

Usagi nodded her head in understanding, as the beginnings of a mental portrait began to give her some insight into what kind of person her granddaughter was. She continued to sit where she was and watched while she continued to unpack, managing to engage her in some more idle conversation as the closet and dresser were being filled.

Finally, Ranma got around to the knick-knacks, stuffed animals and other odds and ends, to complete the illusion that she was a girl with a history, who had come from a lived-in bedroom rather than a guest room that she hadn't given a thought to personalize at all. Some of the things that she had chosen had been picked without putting much thought into them, while others had just seemed to call out to her at the time. The four stuffed animals, consisting of a pig, panda, duck and cat, had been particularly difficult ones to pass up, despite her better judgement.

Noticing the stuffed cat, and spurred by curiosity, Usagi asked, "So, you're only afraid of _real_ cats?"

Having finished unpacking what needed to be unpacked, Ranma sat on her new bed and faced her supposed cousin. "Thankfully. Man, if my fear had included tigers, I don't even want to _think_ what might have happened..."

"You've encountered _tigers_?" Usagi gasped, her eyes wide.

Ranma looked away and rubbed the back of her head with embarrassment, unable able to help a short but nervous chuckle. "A couple times, yeah... I kinda went overboard with my training."

"'Kinda?'" Usagi thought to herself, as she began to wonder if that kind of training had been any part of the reason for why her granddaughter had been sent back into the past. Being that she was more concerned for her well-being than she was about admonishing her for such behavior, she was inspired to ask, "Have you tried to overcome your fear with therapy, or something?"

Ranma released a long-suffering sigh, as she thought back on what she had learned after her first encounter with the cat advisors had reminded them of her fear (which had been documented right after she had been sealed away in the crystal). "I've tried a lot of things, but nothing seems to work. There's little that can't be done in the future, but the nature of my fear is one of them."

Usagi didn't need to feel the close connection that she had with Pandeia to arouse the determination that she felt toward relieving her of such a fear, even though more qualified people had probably preceded her in that very effort. It just wasn't right to be scared of cats to any degree. Besides which, if her granddaughter ever became a functioning member of their crime-busting team, it was going to be a mite awkward working with Luna and Artemis without her ever meeting them in person.

"One problem at a time," she thought.

Since there was nothing that could be done about it for now, and her granddaughter appeared to be done with the unpacking, she decided that it was time to bring up something that had been suggested by one of her friends earlier, over their personal communication channel (which she could access with her watch).

"I'm sure you'll overcome your fear, someday," she said consolingly, before adding, "for now, though, would you like to meet with some of my friends? Some of them are free this afternoon, and they would like to meet you."

Ranma perked up with interest and smiled, her spirits lifted in light of who she might get to meet. "Really? Sounds good to me."

* * *

Bore a fair resemblance to Usako: I figured that Chibi-Usa's hair and eyes had to come from somewhere, and in some colored illustrations Ikuko _does_ have pink hair and eyes, so...

Genkan: An area — often with a recessed floor — within the entrance of a home, where one removes their shoes to avoid dirtying or damaging floors.

Oba-san: Aunt or middle-aged woman.

Pandeia: Means "all-bright" in Greek, apparently.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After making their departure known to Usagi's mother, and that they'd likely eat out for dinner, they left the house and began to make their way to the park. Ranma was looking forward to meeting the other sailor senshi, since she'd seen so little of them back in the future. With their role as peacekeepers all but over, they were often contracted for various jobs and projects, by organizations both public and private in nature.

Despite how much technology had advanced since the twentieth century, there were still quite a number of things that the sailor senshi could do quicker and easier, and all without much (if any) demand on resources. Most of said things were space-related, usually involving the transport of supplies and equipment to a number of space stations, colonies on other planets and moons, and mining operations. It wasn't unusual for them to be hired as maintenance workers for a space station or offworld colony, if the job had to be done in the vacuum of space and/or happened to be time-sensitive.

The reason for their demand was quite simple, and understandable. To begin with, they didn't need to be supplied with oxygen, so their time wasn't limited by its rate of depletion. They also didn't need to eat, drink or sleep, and only needed a break if they worked more than their recuperative abilities could keep up with. Then there was the lack of a suit or vessel, which not only could be compromised if damaged, but were more restrictive when it came to where one could go and what one could do.

While robots were a fairly good alternative, and many more of them were employed in space than people were, they were more expensive to make and maintain. It was especially true of the latter expense, because most robots didn't have as much of a "sense" (read: caution) for danger as people did, which would sooner put them out of service (either temporarily or permanently) unless nature took its course via wear and tear.

Ultimately, the sailor senshi were kept busy for the sake of good relations worldwide, providing affordable and reliable service on one front while turning their profit toward charities and various social programs on the other.

"Are you usually this quiet?" Usagi interrupted her thoughts. "Or is there something on your mind?"

Ranma glanced over at Usagi, who — because they were walking side by side — had to lean forward a bit in order to get a better look at her face. She saw that her companion, while curious, seemed reserved enough about her line of questioning that she would likely abandon either of said questions if they happened to be too personal.

Since they weren't, she had the good grace to look embarrassed as she said, "Sorry; it's a bit of both, really."

"Oh?" Usagi voiced, who hoped to pursue her latter question.

"Yeah," Ranma obliged her, who absently swept some of her hair behind an ear, looking ahead but not truly seeing. "I was just thinking that the sailor senshi are pretty amazing."

Of that, there was little doubt in her mind. Most of the sailor senshi were young girls, had become sailor senshi at an even younger age than they were now, yet they bore so much responsibility and pursued such noble causes. In their latest incarnation, they had not been born with the expectation to do anything of what they now did, and had started out as normal girls with no idea of what awaited them until circumstances had made it impossible for them to live a mundane life.

When she thought about it, it made her feel ashamed of herself. Unlike them, she had been raised from the very start to have the kind of skills and mindset to do what a sailor senshi did, despite what her father's ultimate plan for her had been. And what had she ever done with it?

If she hadn't been causing problems, to some degree or another, then she had usually been too focused on trying to resolve her own. And when she wasn't doing that, she was either trying to live idly or show off. Instead of making it a point to be selfless and constructive, in ways that very few people were in a position to match, she had often been self-absorbed and frivolous.

Her thoughts drifted to the Ginzuishou, and she began to wonder if she was even worthy of it, whether she could use it or not.

Between the words that Pandeia had last spoken, and seeing the look in her eyes, Usagi was able to interpret her thoughts with a fair amount of accuracy despite taking a different series of considerations to get there. With said interpretation in mind, she lightly touched the other girl's shoulder and guided her to a stop.

"You'll be an amazing sailor senshi yourself, someday," she softly assured her, as she stared into her eyes with both reassurance and encouragement.

The idea took Ranma by surprise. Both Usagi and Usako hadn't needed to be sailor senshi to use the Ginzuishou, and she already had some command over its power as she was, so the thought of becoming a sailor senshi had never crossed her mind. She might share a special kind of relationship with Usagi, but she didn't expect to share that kind of connection with her as well. Perhaps if she had truly been her sister, or had been one of her descendents (as her current guise would suggest), but...

It took a moment, but she replaced the mild look of surprise on her face with one of gratitude, accepting the compliment for what it was. That seemed to settle things, and seconds later they resumed their walk, their destination unchanged and pace unhurried.

Idly, as she began to hold her first conversation with Usagi since they had left the house, about who to expect at the park, she thought, "A sailor senshi, huh?"

She wasn't sure what to think about that, regardless of whether it was possible or not. Only females could be sailor senshi, after all, and that was one complication that she could certainly do without at that particular point in time. Even if she took her situation out of the equation, could she really devote so much of her time and energy to help and protect everyone on Earth? She wouldn't _have_ to, of course, but the others would expect no less from her, and would want to welcome her into their ranks.

Her, a sailor senshi, which could last for as long as the galaxy continued to exist. Was that the life — existence — for her? It was difficult enough to consider what might await her if her ability to use the Ginzuishou turned out to be anything like those belonging to its previous owners. And if that wasn't enough to think about, she still had a lot of learning and adapting to do, an adoption to consider, a sex to explore, and had to figure out just where — exactly — she wanted to go in life.

Seeing as how that was par for the course, she merely sighed mentally at those thoughts and hoped that things would turn out for the best.

* * *

Upon entering Amishiro park, Usagi made a beeline toward one of the nearby park benches, where Ranma saw three familiar-looking people. The only one sitting on the bench was a girl that she recognized as Ami, while Makoto and Mamoru stood nearby. Aside from their attire, they didn't look so different from their future selves that she couldn't readily identify them.

Ami was in the middle of eating a deli sandwich from its wrapper, which might have explained why she had taken a seat on the bench. Makoto and Mamoru were facing each other, and appeared to be having a light conversation. When they noticed both Usagi and herself approaching them, they ceased what they had been doing and prepared to receive them (except for Ami, who had to rise for the occasion first).

Unmindful of any audience, Usagi practically skipped over to Mamoru and shared a brief hug and kiss with him before she turned to the others and perkily said, "Guys, this is Pandeia."

After voicing their greetings together, Makoto casually asked the first — and most obvious — question. "So, you're Chibi-Usa's kid, huh?"

It took a second for Ranma to realize who Makoto had been referring to, since she'd only known "Usako" as the nickname of Usagi's daughter. "Is that what people call mom these days?"

The conversation proceeded naturally from there, which didn't delve too deeply into any particular subject, but it wasn't long before Mamoru had to excuse himself. He'd only been able to make a brief appearance because he had a class to go to in the afternoon, as a student of the prestigious Keio university, but he had promised to make more time for her before making his exit.

His leave-taking was a good excuse as any to proceed to their next destination, the Hikawa shrine, so they could really begin their excursion. While Rei was one among many who couldn't back out of a prior commitment that day, she was the only one whom they could still spend some of their time with: because Minako had gone to see a concert, saying that she might turn up for dinner, while the other four no-shows had planned a family outing in Kyoto that would last the entire weekend.

Along the way, the subjects of their conversation were mostly inspired by the sights that they passed by. They weren't of any particular interest to Ranma, but she handled it politely and enjoyed the bits concerning places where a notable event had happened in their lives, which were often at someone's expense (usually Usagi's). The good-natured ribbing was infectious, and she found herself joining in just prior to reaching their destination.

As they ascended the steep flight of stairs that led up to the area where the main shrine was located, along with its attendant buildings and accommodations, Usagi brought up what had happened to her when she had visited the shrine for the first time. When she began to recount the part where Rei had planted an ofuda right between her eyes, a familiar sound drew Ranma's gaze skyward, where two crows were circling above them.

"That must be Phobos and Deimos," she thought, unable to help a smile.

When she had initially begun to spend some of her time beyond the palace grounds, Phobos and Deimos had acted as both guides and advisors. Not only due to the fact that they were the most accessible among the group of people that Usagi trusted the most (since they mostly concerned themselves with Rei's workload only), but because their small size made it easy for them to hide, thus leaving very little chance that anyone would see them and wonder who she was (beyond being a new face).

After Usagi, she'd had more contact with Phobos and Deimos than anyone else. The time that they had spent together, at first, had been due to Rei's instruction. However, she was pretty sure that they had become friends, since they had still met and hung out regularly enough after she had no longer needed their services. (It upset her a bit that she couldn't be certain about their relationship, like she could with her potential mother-to-be, but her past experiences with "friendship" had left its mark on her.)

Her observation must have caught the attention of the Coronis-born twins, because they ceased circling above their heads and dove toward them instead — or, to be more specise, they dove toward _her_. Hoping for the best, since she'd _just_ heard about Usagi's first encounter with them, she stopped climbing the stairs and held out her arm as a perch. Since they had yet to meet her, she was uncertain how things would turn out.

The others, having noticed her actions, had enough time to either look at her or the approaching crows before said crows landed on her arm.

She smiled with relief as she regarded Phobos and Deimos, glad that her uncertainty had been unfounded. What she didn't know was that they had learned about her impending visit, and that her smile — which they had perceived as being from someone seeing a friend — had decided their course of action. Also, they now knew better about the kind of feeling that people like Usagi and herself gave off, to mistake her as a potential enemy.

"Do you know them?" Usagi asked, with a confused expression on her face, upon seeing how familiar Pandeia was being with Phobos and Deimos.

"This is their first time meeting me," Ranma replied, before self-consciously adding, "but we're friends in the future."

Makoto smiled at that. "Can't be separated by time, huh?"

Deimos, being the closer of the two sisters to Ranma's head, hopped onto her shoulder and nudged her head against her cheek before she and her sister flew off. Between that and Makoto's comment, Ranma's cheeks had become rather flush, much to everyone else's good-natured amusement.

When the group finally reached the landing at the top of the stairs, it didn't take them long to find Rei. She was currently dressed as a miko and acting as the sole attendant of the shrine's small store, which sold various souvenirs and omamori from its storefront window. At present, she was being occupied by a customer, and there were a pair of them awaiting their own turn to purchase something.

Since they couldn't predict when potential customers of the store might choose to do their business, they moved to the back of the line and hoped for the best. Fortunately, by the time that they had made it to the window, no one else had added themselves to the line. It wasn't too unexpected, however, since there weren't that many people visiting the shrine at that exact moment.

Rei smiled pleasantly and offered a short bow in greeting when she saw the stranger among her friends, which wasn't performed for the sake of keeping up with the appearance of her current station. "Pandeia, I presume?"

Ranma returned the bow and said, "It's nice to meet you, Rei-san."

"Likewise," Rei replied, as she looked over the other girl appraisingly. "That said, _Granny_ hasn't been giving you too much trouble, has she?"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Came Usagi's indignant response, her arms now akimbo.

"See?" Rei stated, who made an idle gesture with her hand, toward Usagi, before shaking her head sadly. "She's so far gone that she's forgotten what our words mean."

Usagi puffed out her cheeks upon hearing that, and it took her a second to rally a comeback. "But I'm not the one who sounds like a stuffy, old maid."

One of Rei's eyebrows began to tick, which didn't do the fake smile on her face any favors. "_Who_ sounds like a stuffy, old maid?"

"Now, now," Ami interjected, who seemed equal parts amused and exasperated by their behavior.

The exchange between Usagi and Rei had left Ranma feeling a bit sad, as well as envious. Whether she had gone about it wrong, or the other side of the equation (usually Akane or Ryoga) hadn't been able to take a joke, her attempts to have the same kind of byplay had rarely met with anything remotely resembling success. Now, she would never know if it would have ever worked out with them; she could only hope that she would have more success with the group of people that she found herself associating with in her new life.

Since Rei was the only one with a clear view of her face, she was the one who noted the expression on it. Because she felt fairly concerned by what she saw, she asked, "Is something the matter? I didn't offend you, did I?"

Ranma tried to mount what she hoped would be a convincing smile of reassurance, since she had failed to hide her feelings only seconds ago (and had caused the unwanted attention that she now faced). "Ah, uh, no. I just got a little distracted."

She wasn't sure if anyone had bought her excuse, but no one seemed inclined to pursue the issue either way. Instead, they spent the next few minutes chatting idly, with some subjects from before being brought up again for Rei's sake, before a new customer forced the miko to end their little get-together and prioritize her current duty at the shrine.

It was disappointing to leave so soon, but she reminded herself that it was only her first day in the past, and that there would be another opportunity to socialize with Rei. Since Sailor Mars had been the first sailor senshi that she had ever met in person, it had left a bit of an impression on her, so she was a little partial when it came to wanting to interact with her. Phobos and Deimos worked under her as well, so she had even more reason to be interested.

For now, though, she hoped to enjoy a tour of the area, see some of the girls' haunts, and get to know Makoto, Ami and (this time's) Usagi better.

* * *

The next several hours passed by at a rather unexpected rate, which Ranma attributed to having both good company and a few notable, fun distractions. They had mainly kept to the shopping district and residential area of Azabu-Jūban, but they had made plans to explore other nearby places within Minato, as well as other parts of Tokyo, at a later date.

Along the way they had stopped by Makoto's apartment, where she had insisted on taking a short break and having some tea and snacks. They had also passed by the condominium where Ami lived, who had felt (with some embarrassment) that the detour wouldn't be worth it just to show Ranma around her home, but had otherwise assured the other girl that she could visit under different circumstances.

During the later half of the afternoon, they had stopped by the Crown arcade, where they had ended up playing various games until the evening. While Ranma was no stranger to video games, she'd never had much opportunity to play them, but Usagi had nonetheless been impressed when she had gotten good enough to beat her at everything that the arcade had to offer, by the time that they had finished playing around (though not without some half-hearted lamentation). Ami had them all beat, however, which had struck Ranma as being a bit odd, considering how she was such a studious and academic-oriented girl.

While at the arcade, she had been introduced to Furuhata Motoki, the manager of the arcade whose family owned both the arcade and the cafe next door. He was one of the few normal people who knew the sailor senshi's identities, which was just as well since their secret base of operations was right beneath their feet. She found him easy to talk to, and it didn't take her long to understand why he had been trusted with the sailor senshi's secret instead of being brainwashed to forget about it.

Everyone had been ready to eat by the time that they'd had their fill of playing games, so they had all gone over to the Crown's cafe for dinner, seeing as it was close by and a favorite of the group (save Ranma, who had never been there before). Once they had chosen a place to sit, Motoki's younger sister, Unazuki, had appeared as their waitress. Like her brother, Ranma also found her to be a likeable person, if a bit more outgoing and personable.

It was while they had been waiting for their meal that Usagi had received a call from Minako, via the communicator in her watch, asking if it was too late to join them. Since that hadn't been the case, Usagi had told her their location and ordered a meal for her. By the time that she had arrived, everyone had already been served and her own meal had been waiting for her.

Among those that she had met so far, Ranma had found Minako to be the only one that she had felt any real reservation toward. It might have had something to do with her being charged up from the concert, but if her marathon of admiration for the "hot" lead singer of the band was any indication of how she behaved normally... (Well, at least for now, she really wanted to avoid the subject of "boys" in general, until she knew how to deal with it both politely and tactfully.)

By the time that she and Usagi had to return home, however, some of her misgivings about Minako had vanished, as she had proved — with her initial mood, at least — to be far too friendly and silly to keep at arm's length. She had brought a jolt of energy to the group, which had affected Usagi the most, followed — to a lesser extent — by Makoto. Even Ami had not been left untouched by it, who had begun to speak more often and less formally.

Still, some was hardly all. She hadn't liked the look in Minako's eyes when Usagi had mentioned what her fictional (though not exactly incorrect) lifestyle had been until recently, nor had she cared to see the same look reflected in Usagi's eyes when Minako had suggested that they help her to get in touch with her feminine side. If she had been a little wiser, she probably wouldn't have voiced her disinterest in having a romantic relationship when the topic had been brought up in short order, which had inspired Makoto (who had a keen interest in getting married) to join them in their scheming.

Thankfully, Ami had acted as the voice of reason, and had taken the wind out of their sails before they could build up a lot of steam. It was then that she had learned about Rei being the same way as herself (more or less), since it had been a part of Ami's rebuke. Minako had pouted over the idea of there being "another Rei," and had bemoaned the possibility that she might also have no interest in boys yet still attract — and take advantage of — all of them.

Following that last bit of information, Ranma had amended her earlier assessment of "more or less," and had grown even more interested in Rei.

* * *

Later that night, as she reflected upon everything that had happened that day, she felt that the only real down side was the fact that she was there, in the process of going to sleep in her new bed, while the sailor senshi were taking care of criminals. Between all of the changes in her life, and the kind of company that she had been keeping as of late, it now felt natural wanting to do the same thing, rather than wasting her talents by doing little more than showcasing what she could do for the sake of her ego.

Fortunately, she was going to be put through a battery of tests as soon as they could be arranged, to see if she could help out the sailor senshi despite not having the various protections and abilities that came with being one herself. Unfortunately, even if she happened to be up to snuff, her inability to be around cats would mean making a number of accommodations just for her sake, since Luna and Artemis were primarily the ones who collected data on their targets and made the plans. They also tended to help out during the missions, because they could erect protective barriers much like Saturn and Pluto could.

Annoyed by the thought that her ailurophobia was once again going to become an inconvenience in her life, she turned onto her side in a huff. Not for the first time did she wonder whether she would ever overcome the greatest trauma of her life, especially after the experts in the future had only been able to offer a risky — and thus highly unrecommended — solution, the only one that had any chance of having an effect due to the extreme and exotic nature of her condition.

At that moment she felt her guide's presence grow stronger. However, instead of being there to comfort her, as she would have expected, she committed an act that she rarely ever did: she spoke.

"Allow me to help you," her guide gently offered.

The significance of the situation inspired Ranma to sit up in her bed and project the thought, "Help me? Help me with what?"

"With your fear," came the simple response.

That brought Ranma up a bit short. "You can do that?"

The next response seemed to come hesitantly. "...I can."

"How?" Ranma wondered, who felt confused as well as a little put out. "And why wait until now to mention it?"

"With my memories," her guide calmly answered, "which took me some time to sort out and put together."

Ranma sighed with disappointment. "But they said that that probably wouldn't work."

She remembered quite well what she had been told about her best bet. Ordinarily, if she had seen a cat in someone else's memories, she would have still reacted with fear. In order to experience the memory without the fear, she would have to be put into an altered state of mind, where her identity would be suppressed while she was made to believe that she was another person. Basically, it meant, "I do not fear the cat, because I am not myself."

However, while doctors in the future had much of the brain figured out down to a science, there were still some things that they had yet to completely grasp, and the persona of a person was one of them (which was — in this case — not helped by the laws that prohibited such tampering of the brain). Not only had the treatment been given a fairly low chance of success, but no one could have said what the unintended side-effects might have been, whether the treatment had been a success or not, regarding how her mind would decide to interpret the experience once she was in her right mind again.

And that was before taking into consideration the fact that her experience with the neko-ken "training" had been so traumatic that it had left its mark on her star seed. Compared to what was known about the brain, next to nothing was known about star seeds, aside from knowing why they were present and what certain ones were capable of doing. Regardless of what happened with her brain, after receiving the treatment, there was no telling how her star seed might come into play, either during or after the process.

Simply put: there were too many unknowns and uncertainties to prescribe the treatment with any amount of confidence. So, why would her guide even suggest it?

"That, they did," her guide agreed, "but that assessment did not take me into consideration. I'm confident that my memories will work."

Ranma did her best to suppress her excitement, and quietly considered accepting her guide's help. On one hand, her guide had been both helpful and reliable, which was why she had any excitement to suppress in the first place. On the other hand, her guide had been responsible for her long "vacation" in the crystal, which was something that she hadn't completely come to terms with yet. It was strange enough to consider having someone else's memories in her head, without also having to worry about that going too far.

Her guide seemed to sense what was on her mind, because she said, "I swear that you will dream of nothing more than pleasant memories of cats."

Ranma considered her offer seriously, weighing the potential risks with the desired benefits, before coming to a decisions. Upon doing so, she closed her eyes and softly stated, "Alright. I'll trust you."

She laid back down, pulled her blanket up to her shoulders from her waist, and tried to get some sleep. However, the knowledge of what lay ahead of her produced mixed feelings: nervousness driven by doubt, and excitement borne of optimism. That made falling asleep a bit problematic, to say the very least.

Once she was finally at rest, the incorporeal form of her guide's hand reached out, toward her head, and simulated a few tender caresses before she whispered, "This much should be fine."

* * *

Ofuda: A charm made of paper, cloth, wood or metal, bearing an inscription that offers some form of protection.

Omamori: A type of charm usually made for the individual, either offering protection against something or granting luck for various mundane concerns.


End file.
